Cover Ovidia Yu (Photo: Darren Gabriel Leow)
Ovidia Yu (Photo: Darren Gabriel Leow)
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She makes her theatre comeback with a new play on Kwa Geok Choo, the quiet force behind two Singapore prime ministers: Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong
She was the wife of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and the mother of current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong (and his two siblings). But Kwa Geok Choo was a woman in her own right: the family’s main breadwinner (so her husband could pursue a political career), a co-founder of one of Singapore’s leading law firms, and a wise confidante of her husband.
But hers is a story that has yet been told. And there is no better person to bring it to the stage than veteran playwright Ovidia Yu, one of Singapore’s foremost feminist writers in the league of Stella Kon and Catherine Lim before her.
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Directed by Toy Factory Productions’ chief artistic director Goh Boon Teck, the monologue Kwa Geok Choo, opening this month at Victoria Theatre, offers a retelling of Kwa’s life, from her early years as a brilliant student to becoming a top lawyer in Singapore, marrying Lee Kuan Yew in secret, and as a political wife and mother.
Kwa was ahead of her time. She was the only girl who studied at the all-boys Raffles Institution— where she met Lee—and she topped the 1936 Senior Cambridge examination. She was later awarded the prestigious Queen’s Scholarship and she joined Lee to read law at the University of Cambridge.
“The play is about Kwa Geok Choo, but it’s also about her husband. We’re talking about strong partnerships; not to say that all women must support their husbands, but maybe that men should support their wives too,” says Yu. “Lee Kuan Yew could do what he did because he had a supportive wife, but people wouldn’t have supported her doing all these things with him as support. How come? That’s where the mentality change must happen because they were a great partnership. It wouldn’t have worked with her being in front then; maybe it would work now.”
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When Goh approached Yu about a year ago—even though the idea had been brewing for more than a decade—she was initially reluctant to take on what she thought would be the restating of dates and facts that everyone knew. Having written more than 30 plays—her last was Hitting (On) Women in 2006—she took a break from theatre and “immediately discovered that writing books was much easier”.
As fate would have it, Yu has a soft spot for Singapore history. “All of my books are set in Singapore, and all the history, food and nature are accurate. It’s my way of writing about Singapore, but nobody’s going to pick up a history book for fun and entertainment,” she says candidly. “You need a story pulling it through.” When Goh came knocking, the author of the Aunty Lee Singapore murder-mystery series and the Crown Colony crime series was writing her next book, coincidentally set in the post-war period, which is around the same time as the start of the play.
Above Tan Rui Shan plays the titular role in Yu’s new play, Kwa Geok Choo. (Photo: Toy Factory Productions)
Tan Rui Shan plays the titular role in Yu’s new play, Kwa Geok Choo. (Photo: Toy Factory Productions)
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Above Image: Crispi
Image: Crispi
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“When I started doing research on Madam Kwa, I discovered a lot of things that I thought people should know about her. She was an extraordinary person because of her standing in society, and then she does ordinary things like going home to have lunch with her family every day,” Yu says.
While Kwa never held public office, the first and only political speech she made was on the emancipation of women via a short radio broadcast in 1959, where she said: “Our society is still built on the assumption that women are the social, political and economic inferiors of men. This myth has been made the excuse for the exploitation of female labour. Many women do the same kind of work as men, but do not get the same pay.”
The government passed the Women’s Charter in 1961, which instituted the rights of women. For many years, the women’s movement led by the Singapore Council of Women had been advocating for the legislation act, which Kwa helped draft. She also contributed to a water agreement ensuring Singapore’s continued supply after separation from Malaysia.
Above Yu admits that Kwa has also inspired her to wear the traditional Chinese dress more often: “Thanks to her, I now have three cheongsams.” (Photo: Toy Factory Productions)
Yu admits that Kwa has also inspired her to wear the traditional Chinese dress more often: “Thanks to her, I now have three cheongsams.” (Photo: Toy Factory Productions)
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“Madam Kwa was gentle and soft-spoken, but also steely and tough. She could tackle anything that needed to be done,” says Yu. On young actress Tan Rui Shan, who plays the titular role, Yu notes: “Rui Shan’s confidence grows in her. You can see her channelling Kwa Geok Choo, which is impressive. I’m looking forward to seeing how she carries the character through.”
Besides lessons in resilience and getting through hard times, Yu also took sartorial notes from Kwa, who was always togged in her signature cheongsams. “The cheongsam was her everyday wear, for the office to dinner with foreign heads of states. Thanks to her, I now have three cheongsams.”
Above Image: Crispi
Image: Crispi
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As Senior Editor of Tatler Singapore, Hashirin champions and refines the storytelling across platforms—curating and crafting compelling profiles, cover stories and features that spotlight visionaries shaping culture, business and impact. Driven by curiosity, she draws inspiration from the artists, changemakers and trailblazers she encounters through her work. Beyond the pages of Tatler, she is an avid supporter of local theatre and delights in seeking out art in every city she visits.
